SYRACUSE — It is Game Day in the Carrier Dome where Clemson looks for their first road win against Syracuse. The Tigers hope to stay in the race for another ACC Championship.
Clemson hopes to make a statement coming off the bye week.
Location: Carrier Dome
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Announcers: Mike Golic Jr., Anish Shroff, Taylor McGregor
2021 Record: Clemson 3-2, Syracuse 3-3
ACC Record: Clemson 2-1, Syracuse 0-2
Series History: Clemson leads series 7-2
Last Meeting: Clemson won 47-21 on October 24, 2020
CLEMSON PREPARES FOR FRIDAY NIGHT ROAD TEST AT SYRACUSE
After a much-needed week of rest and recovery, Clemson will return to action this week when it travels to face the Syracuse Orange on Friday, Oct. 15. Kickoff at the Carrier Dome is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.
Prior to an open date last week, cardiac Clemson improved to 3-2 in 2021 with a 19-13 victory against Boston College on Oct. 2. Very few seasons
in Clemson’s 126-year history have featured the kind of early drama the Tigers have produced this season.
All four of Clemson’s games against FBS opponents in 2021 have been decided by one possession, marking only the seventh time in school history that at least four of Clemson’s first five games of a season have been decided by a final margin of eight or fewer points.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
– Clemson attempting to improve to 8-2 all-time against Syracuse.
– Clemson attempting to win a fourth straight game against Syracuse, matching the longest streak in series history (four from 2013-16).
– Clemson attempting to improve to 4-1 in road games at Syracuse all-time.
– Clemson playing Syracuse while the Tigers are unranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time in series history. Clemson was AP-ranked in all nine of the previous meetings, including a Top 3 ranking in seven of its eight previous matchups with the Orange. Clemson, however, remains ranked in the AFCA Coaches Poll this week and will have been ranked in the Top 25 of one of the major polls in every contest.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 32-25-5 all-time in Friday games and improve to 26-20-5 in Friday regular season games all-time.
– Clemson attempting to win its first game on a Friday since 2016 against Boston College.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 28-1 in October games in the College Football Playoff era (since 2014). The contest will be played in similar circumstances to its lone October loss of that time span: a Friday night game
at Syracuse in 2017.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Clemson is 31-25-5 all-time in games played on Friday. Friday games were are far more common occurrence in the early decades of Clemson football, as the Tigers played 48 of their 61 all-time Friday games to date in their first 60 years of existence.
Prior to this week’s contest, only two of Clemson’s 13 most-recent Friday games have come in regular season play. Clemson split those regular season Friday games, a win at Boston College in 2016 and an upset loss at Syracuse in 2017. Clemson is 25-20-5 in regular season Friday games and 6-5 in postseason Friday games, including the 1982 Orange Bowl to conclude Clemson’s 1981 national championship season.
CLEMSON FOLLOWING OPEN DATES
Since joining the ACC as a charter member in 1953, Clemson has played 61 regular season games following off weeks. The Tigers are 42-19 in those contests.
Clemson is 15-2 under Head Coach Dabo Swinney when playing a regular season game following an off week, including two such occurrences in the 2013, 2014, 2019 and 2020 seasons. Clemson has won 13 of its last 14
regular season games after open weeks, including each of its last nine. Those figures include games following two open dates in the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season, one of which resulted in 21 days between regular season games when Clemson followed an open week with a game cancellation.
IN SEARCH OF WIN NO. 150
Head Coach Dabo Swinney is 143-35 in 178 career games and needs seven more wins to reach 150 career victories.
Among coaches who qualify for the NCAA FBS record book by virtue of five years or 50 wins as a major college head coach, only 15 have ever reached 150 career wins in 200 games or less. Fourteen of the 15 are College Football Hall of Famers, with the 15th — Urban Meyer — likely to be inducted upon meeting eligibility requirements.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 27, Syracuse 20
Sam – Clemson 24, Syracuse 20
Davis – Clemson 21, Syracuse 17
Gavin – Clemson 27, Syracuse 17